hes@ccvr1.cc.ncsu.edu (Henry E. Schaffer) (01/21/91)
From: hes@ccvr1.cc.ncsu.edu (Henry E. Schaffer)
Title: MARINE SNIPER
Subtitle: 93 Confirmed Kills
Author: Charles Henderson
Publisher: Stein and Day
Date, etc: 1986, 6" x 9", 274 pages hardbound
ISBN: 0-8128-3055-5
This strangely compelling slim volume tells the two related stories
of Carlos Hathcock and the Vietnam war. Each of these stories is told
from an unusual point of view, and I was pulled into the stories,
even though I seldom enjoy either biography or war stories.
The biography of Carlos Hathcock follows his involvement
with rifles, from childhood, through his winning the 1,000-Yard
National High-Power Rifle Championship at Camp Perry in 1965,
and then spends most of the time on his life as a Marine Sniper
in Vietnam, and as a sniper trainer.
The Vietnam war story only gives us the point of view of sniper
teams, and particularly the sniper platoon and 2-man teams on which
Hathcock served. It is a disembodied way to discuss a war - the
reader can't tell what is going on - who is winning - where the
action is taking place - the author doesn't care to discuss any of
this. What is described, sometimes in minute detail, is the
details of individual operations. Right down to the 3-miles-on-
his-belly crawls to a shooting point, and to the insect bites
suffered on the way, and to the shooting technique used. The
sniper rifles, both U.S. and foreign, are paid more attention
than the overall view of the war. Well, the sniper doesn't pay
attention to the war - he is concerned with getting to a point
of concealment unseen/unnoticed, and making that one perfect
shot. (And getting away afterwards, of course.) For obvious
reasons, the shots are often taken at rather long ranges, which
is very demanding on shooting skills and which is discussed
quite thoroughly.
Both the biography and the war story concentrate on the rifles
involved, and the training to shoot the rifles, and the men who
were involved in this, and in getting the Marine Corps to agree
to recruit/train/use snipers. The book gets downright preachy
about how the stuffy brass was not willing to understand how
effective sniping can be, and how and why it should be used in
warfare. The rifles also receive much attention. Hathcock
particularly used the M-2 machine gun (a standard .50 BMG
gun) triggering off one shot at a time, and the U.S. sniper
rifle (based variously, I think, on the Winchester Model 70,
and on the Remington Model 700, with a special barrel, scope,
and a fiberglass stock.) Hathcock used the M-2 (with an
additional Unertl sniper scope) for a confirmed single shot kill
at 2,500 yards. (That's not a typo - two thousand five hundred
yards!) Their .30-06 bolt action rifles were usually zeroed
in at 700 yards, and sniping often took place at 800 - 1,200
yards.
This book has something to appeal to readers with interests in
rifles, sniping, military strategy and history. It is easy to
read, and ends up with a bibliography. There is no index, and so
trying to go back and check details is not particularly easy.
CONTENTS
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
1 Duc Pho Shooting Gallery
2 The Nature of Things
3 Elephant Valley
4 The Best Shot in America
5 Elephant Valley Roundup
6 In the Beginning ...
7 The Apache
8 A Nightmare's Witness
9 Sign of the Sniper
10 Rio Blanco and the Frenchman
11 Sniper on the Loose
12 Nguyan Stalks the Hill
13 Sniper Counter Sniper
14 Stalking the General
15 Saying Good-bye
16 Return to Vietnam
17 The Tribe
18 The Sacrifice
19 Beating the Odds
20 The Legend and the Man
Bibliography
--henry schaffer n c state univ